Why we need the baptism in the Spirit and fire? - A study by Chris Welch

The Anointing Oil for Priesthood
The gift of Christ includes the anointing that is now upon Him, and as he comes to be a resident inside you, guess where that anointing resides?
A description is in psalm 133...the priestly anointing oil.
This is the baptism in the Spirit that was first poured out on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2....
and as Jesus must reign until His enemies are made His footstool....then the anointing oil continues to flow ever since that day.
Baptism in the Spirit is only an option if you think it is. Nothing is forced on anybody....
but spiritually speaking, and here I speak in the same terms as the admonition to tell every man to repent....there is no spiritual option....but if we really don't want heaven and spiritual things nobody is there to force us....(apart from Catholics and the CIA)
but spiritually speaking the Holy Spirit and the baptism in the Spirit are no option....
Jesus whole work was to take the Jews first, out of the "outer courts " realms of their experience with God, and take them via the baptism in the Spirit into the "innercourts realm" of the heavenly Temple.
When the Jews weren't interested, apart from the first few thousands in the Jerusalem church, the gospel was thrown open to anybody in the gentile world who WAS interested.
They weren't expected to go through the hundreds and hundreds of years of life experience of Jews first, Jesus Christ included the Gentiles in the same experience straight away that He wanted to take the Jews into.
Christianity
The New Covenant
The new Covenant born again community
ONLY WORK in the realm of baptism in the Spirit and ofcourse new birth or John Chapter 3 spiritual rebirth.
There is no option. If you try to operate without the command to repent, be baptised and be filled to overflowing with the Spirit,you reproduce the Jewish synagogue idea of Rabbi and laity that all evangelical churches have.
Apart from a general experience of rebirth, there is nothing about an evangelical church that functions in the New Covenant.
They may have bought the early Mercedes Benz but it is still being pulled by a cart horse.
You NEED the Baptism in the Spirit to lead you into all Truth, and that includes the basic call to WALK the WAY, to LEARN THE TRUTH and to GET THE Life Jn 16.13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

CHURCH LIFE
You NEED the baptism in the Spirit to be able to run church. 1 Cor12
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." THERE IS NO COMMON GOOD without baptism in the Spirit. The NEEDS of the COMMON GOOD ARE SIMPLY NOT SERVED
You NEED the baptism in the Spirit to interpret what He has already Divinely caused to be written down. It was written in RUACH or breath of God, so it has to be translated from RUACH to be life to anybody.
1 Cor 2 Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 [d]For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. ..................
But [f]a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually [g]appraised.
Baptism in the Spirit takes us out of the realm of natural or carnal man and into the "covered are of the heavenly tabernacle" where there is no natural light or sunlight. WE NEED the Spirit's Illumination in this realm or we are stuffed!!! But we are NOT an OLD COVENANT CONGREGATION , we are learning to be led by the Spirit of God as ones born of the Spirit. See John Chapter 3

WE NEED THE BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT to experience UNITY,
in ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. Psalm 133
Ephesians 4
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

SET APART FOR MINISTRY
WE NEED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT to know when people are ready for ministry
joints who are "working properly" Ephesians 4
Acts 13: 2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

WE NEED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT for evangelism
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
For Healing the sick, casting out demons, conducting spiritual warfare, for the miraculous gift of utterance in preaching, also for the gifts of word of wisdom and knowledge to help and deliver people completely unknown to us.

NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER BUT BY MY SPIRIT SAYS THE LORD
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3 also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” 4 Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?” 5 So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he [a]said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. 7 ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
He is describing the middle area or first covered area of the heavenly Tabernacle, wherein is the candlestick.
This preeminently is the function of the LOCAL CHURCH
meeting in the Name of Jesus
and being accelerated into full growth as sons as the first disciples were, as described by the third area of the Temple the Holiest Place.

PREPARED FOR EPHESIANS 6 WARFARE
The whole first 5 chapters of Ephesians prepares for Ephesians 6
Warfare
To UNMASK the secondheavens, and the fallen principalities and powers there
to paralyse their usurped rulership over nations
to reclaim our rightful earth under the Lord and Creator Psalm 24
to say to all ancient curses and boundaries : Be lifted up ye Ancient Doors and Let the King of Glory Come In.

FINAL SUMMARY
THERE IS NO OPTION AT ALL ABOUT BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT.
Without baptism in the Spirit....we see human and spiritual monstrosities such as all the denominations including Catholicism
We see UNPREPARED ministries
We see churches that remain in Old Covenant worship with one leader doing everything
We see Churches exercising no authority and effect over localities, nations and continents, but instead we see the power of the enemy's people grow stronger and usurp more and more territory and laws
we see very few people properly born again and filled with the Spirit and learning to function in the Melchizedek order under their Head King Jesus.

Spiritual Gifts II - Not by Might Nor By Power But by My Spirit says the Lord.

When I read and reproduced Dan's post at the bottom here I was not intending a series. However I feel impelled to further clarify our need for the spiritual gifts.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts" Zechariah 4.6

Jesus said to her, Jn4:21"Woman, believe Me, (Y)an hour is coming when (Z)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22"(AA)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for (AB)salvation is from the Jews.
23"But (AC)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
24"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (AE)in spirit and truth."

Joshua 5 :13Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, (K)a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"
14He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua (L)fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"
15The captain of the LORD'S host said to Joshua, "(M)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Evangelical preachers often use these actual passages to say almost the opposite of what I wish to write about: namely to put into context the use of the spiritual gifts. In short, they say God is holy, so put aside all the flim flam of modern songs, the "silly" (Stanley Jebb according to Dan B)) use of tongues and prophecy and such like, and get on with serious worship and preaching from the Word.

This I believe rather is our true position. Joshua had already led the Israelites through the Jordan and into the Land. The first thing they did was raise up a memorial pillar then circumcise all the males who , because of the way things had happened had never been circumcised. This is equivalent to covenant baptism into the death and resurrection of our Lord.
Joshua was a called man. He was a prepared man, and by these acts of faith had shown he was an obedient man. But then something weird happened. As anointed as he was. As called as he was, he then came face to face with a confrontation, at which he asked "are you for us or against us?" "No" was the reply.

That's not a human reply is it?..... makes no sense to the left-brain! Are you or aren't you? No.
That's because it was a Spirit reply through an angelic Commander.

I am the commander around here.
Get in line Joshua.

That's what spiritual gifts are. Gifted speakers may have the training. May have the calling. May have the preparation of heart. Then come the spiritual gifts.
Out of nowhere.
The melchizedek Order.
Where Jesus lives and reigns at the right hand of God the Father.See video 2
Jesus expressing His right to rule and reign over His Church. Preachers and leaders, get in line!
God can use the youngest. The most unfit vessel.The most naturally ungifted vessel. And like lightning strike a holy line right down the middle of a gathering, where you are either one side of that line, or the other. It is the Holy Spirit laying bare the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Yes Preacher...you'd better believe God is about holiness...and that He uses His own Divine means, instituted at His command, not yours, namely the spiritual gifts. He never ever ever retracted that command: "These signs shall follow after them that believe!" If you are preaching retraction or the more common "cessation" of the gifts, you are moulding your own theology around your own opinions but not those of the Unfinished Acts of the Apostles.

Not by might,nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts. The Zechariah text and the Joshua text, like the one in Peter Stott's Psalm 24 message all use "the Lord of Hosts".

I will look squarely at any man, as I did a leader at Southbourne Church and say the same as I did to him about Baptism In the Spirit and spiritual gifts. But I will equally face down any modern so called Spirit-filled church in the same way I do in Havant....and in the same way that Peter did when presenting the above message. And the spirit of what I say is this. "You may as in Southbourne inhibit gifts, or sometimes at Havant (especially before the Florida Outpouring) think you are singing yourself into the Presence of God....
But the Presence of God I am talking about is the one that the spiritual gifts, when used keenly and rightly, bring.....the atmosphere of the God of history and destiny....the Commander of the Lord of Hosts.
Meetings fall in line! Meetings are about accomplishing little bits of history. Not about having good meetings. Meetings have to fall somewhere in the direct Spirit line of history somewhere between Ruth , grandmother of David, and Revelation 12 the full orbed church. They are one off events.Divine encounters. We are either in them or we miss them. Period.

In the Samaritan woman episode above, Jesus makes these things clear.
Worship is no longer about Temples or geographical locations.
It is about the unfolding revelation of "the worship of God the Father". Something we've spent 2000 years too bowed in shame to do.
And thirdly it is to be about True worshippers (implication:there are false ones)
who MUST....(no suggestion here) MUST worship in Spirit and truth.

We may know lots about the Bible. But this is specific. This is an activity called worship. And the Divinely instituted manner of doing a worship course...is
to do it, with a liberal sprinkling of supernatural gifts. How else can we learn to worship in Spirit and Truth? Most of evangelicals' spurning of gifts comes from their misuse...or sometimes perceived misuse.
Well can I say if they were the same with their children when they began to walk as they are with Spirit-filled people learning to use the gifts....their children would all be disabled!!!
It's the chicken and the egg. You can't learn to walk without looking a jerk and falling over!
You cannot learn to worship in the Spirit and in the Truth without making mistakes. But that's how you do the Truth and not the Fake. So evangelicals, without wishing it ,you are encouraging the Fake in your meetings, because you are disallowing God's means and the flexible freedom within which which He provided for His people to learn to worship in Spirit and Truth. And in heaven you will face judgment on this on behalf of all the flocks you have ever disabled!

He who leads has the greater judgment.

1 Corinthians 12,13 and 14 - the gifts chapters.
If you are reading this , possibly 40 or 50 years after the last time the gifts were regularly taught, and are thinking....here we go again, well here's the news. Here we don't go again!
Remember this blog is about the 3rd level. Yes it's the same subject of gifts...but the context is different.

We are in a time of transition historically. The last embers of Pentecostalism and the charismatic, are fading in the hearth. God has spoken many times in the last years that....again....He is up to something new in the Earth.
As I've written here and again in this first video, we are moving from being just God of Abraham worshippers, through the Pentecostal God of Abraham and Isaac worshippers, to the new era of being worshippers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.....the full package.
The full package is ofcourse to understand how each of us live as Christ as us in our form - how it works.

Now folks. I know you already had the spiritual gifts. But think about it. Think about the previous context. For me it was in the context of a renewed Baptist church. Then later in the context of an early prototype worshipping and seeking God church at Emsworth. But both were modelled around the pastor or apostle pyramid. That's all we knew.

In the third level , leaders are not servants because they preach incessantly on servant leadership from the tops of their pyramids....in fact they never preach on the subject again because they model it: that is, they are to model the same sort of leadership of Jesus as He wiped the disciples feet.
They are also careful when and if to speak at all...and certainly only under anointing. We once had a leader, who because he knew the scriptures about not sitting in a prominent place, used to studiously sit in a non-prominent place....but rather in the manner of Captain Mainwaring in TV's Dad's Army. In other words you still knew about it!!!!

Once you get the fact that it is Jesus living His life out through you as you.....there really is no studious point to be made! Hey, tell you a hilarious thing that happened to me which puts the other in the shade! Look, I have been out of charismatic land for 10 years from 1988 to 1998, learning about this third level stuff. One of the things I missed was learning much about praying for others in a meeting context. So in one of the conferences recently I came under a certain pressure to behave like the others and it all went horribly wrong, because it wasn't coming from Jesus in me. So I'm praying Toronto style (while missing that bit of my education out) for a local Christian with Parkinsons disease.

After a while he makes to stand up and hobble towards the edge of the meeting. I assume he is taking some steps of faith. When really his Parkinsons isn't as developed as all that , and his friend who is helping him kindly and quietly informs me that I am in the way of him ever reaching the loo!

Now into this new third level way of doing church and meetings context come the spiritual gifts.
Also, now we are preaching learning"Christ as Us in our form".
And we are using the spiritual gifts to practice it.
Lastly, the context is one of acceleration. As each member knows from the start about the three stages of growth, and knows that it is expected that he or she will use spiritual gifts and any other means to build up the Body of Christ as under the Holy Spirit of the Lord.....and to learn to properly worship the Father in Spirit and in the Truth....

The fresh use of the gifts will release a whirlwind of growth across the whole Body of Christ internationally, at a speed and pace that has never been seen at any point in history.....and
all just in time to face some of the greatest challenges to our collective faith in history.

We are to be angry against all the pastor peddlars of religious filth that passes for "true Christianity" yet that flagrantly disobeys the clear and expressed will of God concerning how He builds His Church.
The more we understand the "mystery" of this Jesus Christ being manifested in a greater and greater way in His Body, and our own total lack of natural might or power to either see what needs to be built next, nor have any ability to accomplish it, we will certainly by His Spirit, make use increasingly of his supernatural enablements to see it all take form and shape. This time, knowing that what we are building is the Very Person of Jesus into a bunch of individuals, and not rather building people into some programme of works and seminars in the name of networks and pyramids. Like in Acts, such a new type of church can, like any dismembered worm, just regroup and carry on functioning in a totally different context over night. Because they each know God, and are not just buying dvds and cds from a star preacher.

Is that OK? Do you see the shift of emphasis from the gifts themselves...to what they actually are there to do? Has this been helpful?